Neurological stimulators have been developed to treat pain, movement disorders, functional disorders, spasticity, cancer, cardiac disorders, and various other medical conditions. Implantable neurological stimulation systems generally have an implantable signal generator and one or more leads that deliver electrical pulses to neurological tissue or muscle tissue. For example, several neurological stimulation systems for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) have cylindrical leads that include a lead body with a circular cross-sectional shape and one or more conductive rings (i.e., contacts) spaced apart from each other at the distal end of the lead body. The conductive rings operate as individual electrodes and, in many cases, the SCS leads are implanted percutaneously through a needle inserted into the epidural space, with or without the assistance of a stylet.
Once implanted, the signal generator applies electrical pulses to the electrodes, which in turn modify the function of the patient's nervous system, such as by altering the patient's responsiveness to sensory stimuli and/or altering the patient's motor-circuit output. In SCS for the treatment of pain, the signal generator applies electrical pulses to the spinal cord via the electrodes. In conventional SCS, “low frequency” electrical pulses are used to generate sensations (known as paresthesia) that mask or otherwise alter the patient's sensation of pain. For example, in many cases, patients report paresthesia as a tingling sensation that is perceived as less uncomfortable than the underlying pain sensation. Recently, a form of “high frequency” SCS has been developed, wherein high frequency electrical pulses are delivered to the spinal cord and are able to treat the patient's sensation of pain without generating paresthesia or otherwise using paresthesia to mask the patient's sensation of pain.
Both conventional SCS and high frequency SCS use a test (or “trial”) period during which the most effective combination of parameters (or “program”) for treating the patient's symptoms is determined. Currently, trials are conducted with a clinician placing a plurality of therapy programs in the patients' trial system. Patients then test these programs on their own during the trial period by switching between the programs. When a patient returns to the clinic, the clinician cross-references the patient's pain relief feedback against the stimulator's diagnostics. This approach can be prone to errors, and accordingly there remains a need for improved systems to efficiently identify optimal treatment programs.